Logical Fallacies in Advertising

Advertisements as arguments   Advertisements—regardless of the medium—are an

excellent illustration of the idea that everything is an argument.   You may be surprised to know, however, that modern

advertisements rarely make the straightforward argument that the audience should buy the product.   Rather than direct appeals, advertisements often rely heavily

on logical fallacies to persuade the audience.

Break it down   What is logic?

  What is a fallacy?

  So a logical fallacy is…

Example logical fallacy   Cutting people is a crime. Surgeons cut people. Therefore,

surgeons are criminals.

Spotting the logical fallacy in the wild   When you can understand and identify logical fallacies, you

can move from the obvious assumption—Ford advertisements argue that the audience should buy Fords—to the more accurate—Ford advertisements argue that Ford is the most patriotic brand.   What follows are ten logical fallacies—these need to be in

your notes—each with an advertisement that exemplifies that fallacy. Determine what each advertisement argues.

Logical Fallacies in Advertising   Ad hominem (meaning "against the person")—attacks the

person and not the issue.

  Political attack ad

Logical Fallacies in Advertising   Appeal to emotions—manipulates people's emotions in

order to get their attention away from an important issue

  Child sponsorship ad

Logical Fallacies in Advertising   Bandwagon—creates the impression that everybody is doing

it and so should you

  Visa check card ad

Logical Fallacies in Advertising   False dilemma—limits the possible choices to avoid

consideration of another choice

  Hungry Man ad

Logical Fallacies in Advertising   Appeal to the people—uses the views of the majority as a

persuasive device

  Chevy truck ad

Logical Fallacies in Advertising   Scare tactic—creates fear in people as evidence to support a

claim

  Brink’s Home Security System ad

Logical Fallacies in Advertising   False cause—wrongly assumes a cause and effect relationship

  Tag Body Spray ad

Logical Fallacies in Advertising   Hasty generalization (or jumping to conclusions)—draws a

conclusion about a population based on a small sample

  Burger King ad

Logical Fallacies in Advertising   Red herring—presents an irrelevant topic to divert attention

away from the original issue

  Firestone ad

Logical Fallacies in Advertising   Traditional wisdom—uses the logic that the way things used

to be is better than they are now, ignoring any problems of the past

  Campbell’s Chunky Soup ad

The big question   If logical fallacies can be used to persuade, what is the

problem?   How could they harm your case when writing the persuasive

essay?